VW says group sales down 2.2% in November

11th December 2015, 0 comments

Beleaguered German auto giant Volkswagen said Friday that worldwide sales of all of its 12 different brands were down 2.2 percent in November, with the pollution-cheating scandal hitting demand for its cars.

VW said in a statement it sold 883,700 cars worldwide in November, 2.2 percent fewer than in the same month a year earlier.

Sales of VW-brand cars alone were down 2.4 percent at 496,100 last month, it said.

In addition to the VW marque, the group owns 11 other brands, including Porsche, Audi, Skoda, SEAT and Lamborghini.

Taking the 11 months to November, worldwide sales of all of the group brands slipped by 1.7 percent to 9.256 million units and sales of the VW brand alone were down 4.5 percent at 5.336 million, VW said.

"The VW group and its brands are currently facing a very challenging time," said chief executive Matthias Mueller.

"We are ready tp face up to this huge challenge. At the same time, we are pleased that our customers are remaining loyal to us."

The day before, Mueller had said that while the situation was difficult, it would not break the company.

VW was plunged into its deepest-ever scandal in September, when it was forced to admit it had installed emission-cheating software into 11 million diesel engine vehicles worldwide.

The revelations sent shockwaves through the world's auto sector and there were fears the scandal could also hit the wider German economy.

The costs facing VW, once seen as the paragon of German industry, are still incalculable, not only in terms of reputation and global earnings, but with regard to the potential billions in possible fines and legal costs as well.

At the VW brand, board member Juergen Stackmann said that "developments in world markets, which are in some cases tense, and their effects on the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand will continue until the end of the year."

The Brazilian and Russian markets, for example, were continuing to decline, "a development that is also affecting Volkswagen," Stackman said, referring to the VW brand alone.

"By contrast, deliveries by the brand in China rose."

"In view of the situation of the brand, which is currently challenging, I do not expect that we will be able to compensate for this fall in the remaining days of the year," he said.

Last year, the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand delivered 6.12 million units throughout the world.